


Christmas Through the Years

by purplejellosg1



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Little bit of angst, Romance, Shipmas, Shipmas 2020, Sweetness, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28178340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplejellosg1/pseuds/purplejellosg1
Summary: A little glimpse at Christmas through the years... Shipmas 2020 story.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 7
Kudos: 63





	Christmas Through the Years

**Author's Note:**

> As of an hour ago, all I'd done for Shipmas was a collage. Now, I don't know how much sense this makes, but I couldn't let the day pass without a little contribution!

The first Christmas they spent together was subdued. It was Daniel's first back on Earth since Apophis had taken Sha're, Teal'c and Cassandra's first on Earth full stop. They'd all agreed they'd try to make it as magical as possible for the young girl struggling to find her place in this strange, new world but they all had demons of their own to fight.

Jack looked at the Christmas tree in the corner of his living room and felt a pang of regret, a strong sense of 'what could have been'. He imagined the stack of presents under the tree multiplied by two, gifts he'd once have bought on a whim for his son to try and make up for the Christmas's he'd missed from the early years of Charlie's younger years.

What would he have wanted this year? Would he have wanted a bike or a new baseball mitt?

As for Sam, she did her best to keep a smile on her face. She'd gone overboard with gifts for Cassie, bought something for each of her teammates though had struggled over what to get the Colonel, and spent most of Christmas Eve staring into space, wondering where her father was, wondering what her brother and his family were doing.

Her family had been estranged for too long, long before her engagement to Jonas, which had been the final nail in the coffin as far as their family relationships had been concerned. The last Christmas she'd spent with Mark and his wife had been with Jonas, and her late fiancé had made such a bad impression on her brother that the day had cumulated in a huge argument the siblings were yet to reconcile from.

Would it make a difference if Mark knew Jonas was dead, she wondered? Or had that particular bridge been burned beyond repair? 

A heavy sigh escaped her, one she hadn't noticed until she felt the soft nudge to her side as the Colonel shifted on the couch beside her. Though she'd only known him for a matter of months, she felt a flush of heat go through her at the arched eyebrow and unmistakable concern on his face.

Brushing it off with a smile, she allowed herself to be distracted as Cassie bounded up to them and squirmed to sit between them on the sofa.

#

The second Christmas they spent together was different. 

Unplanned.

Off-world.

They'd intended on being back for the big day, really they had. Despite no one on SG-1 really feeling the holiday spirit - Sha're was dead, things between the team were on shaky ground after his extended stay on Edora and undercover mission - they hadn't planned to be off-world.

Though... Cassie and Janet were visiting family, General Hammond had his daughter and granddaughters to spend the holiday with him...

When they were offered the chance to extend their stay so Daniel could finish some translations, no one objected.

It was, Sam would think later, one of her best Christmas's.

Sure, they ate MRE's that were supposed to be mac and cheese but tasted like chicken around a campfire instead of a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings but it was nice.

It was them.

She sat across from the Colonel, trying not to laugh too loud at the jokes no one else seemed to find funny, listening to Daniel try to explain to Teal'c - once again - what the Bible said about Christmas while Jack interjected something silly just to get a reaction.

Looking back, twelve months later when her Christmas was spent alone with a bottle of wine, she thought that was a good year. 

Before Zatarc tests, and the ghosts of Thera and Jonah.

Before feeling feelings made her wish she didn't feel anything at all.

#

Oh by then there was the next year. The third they spent together.

The first without Daniel.

Subdued was too mild a word. 

They agreed last minute to a Star Wars marathon - Teal'c's request - and spent much of the day fluctuating between being sober and being decidedly not.

At least Hammond had the sense not to call them in that day. 

He left them alone, left them to grieve in peace.

#

The fourth year together was good, the original team together though Sam found she missed Jonas's enthusiasm about everything. Cassie and Janet were there, too, which is why when she thought back on it in her later years, the day was bittersweet.

It was the last Christmas she'd spend with her best female friend, the last Christmas Cassie would spend with the woman who had taken on the role of mother.

They'd had a little too much to drink, giggling tipsily in the Colonel's garden as he insisted he was sober enough to grill them steaks for dinner.

It was that year Sam had kissed him under the mistletoe.

The Colonel, that was.

Where the little berried branch had come from, she could only suspect.

One minute she'd been helping him refresh everyone's drinks in the kitchen, the next her back had been against the fridge. The door had been cold against her back in stark comparison to the heat at her front.

It was sweet and soft, full of longing and desire and promises she wanted to believe would last forever.

Six months later, Janet was gone, her hope had faded, and Pete arrived.

#

Her first Christmas with Pete was also the last she'd spent with him.

It was... not a disaster, exactly. She'd gone with him to Denver to meet his parents, who had been perfectly lovely and nice and kind... Except they'd kept asking Pete about his ex-wife, and although Pete had been bothered by it, Sam had not.

She thought she should have been.

In hindsight, that should have been a really big clue that she wasn't as invested in their relationship as she should have been if he was going to be her husband.

Instead of being bothered that Pete's parents seemed hung up on his ex, Sam found herself wondering about the General and about Cassie, wishing she was there with them instead of with her fiancé.

#

The fifth Christmas... now that was a good year.

Him, her, snowed in at the cabin.

They'd arrived at the crack of dawn, picked out a tree they'd cut down together and carried back to the cabin.

They'd decorated it simply with sparkling fairy lights, put the presents they'd brought with them underneath and then taken the time to unwrap each other in the glowing light of the fire, making love as the clock struck twelve and Christmas Day dawned.

It was... the best. 

The best of the best.

Until a couple of years later.

#

Christmas on Atlantis was hard. 

Lonely.

She missed her husband, her family, her home.

On Christmas Day, she stared out at the sea from the balcony attached to her room, photograph of Jack in hand.

'I love you, I miss you,' she thought, blinking back tears she wished she could blame on the salty sea air stinging her eyes.

'I wish I could have come home for Christmas.'

#

Her next favourite Christmas was after they'd already received the best gift they could have done.

An unexpected gift, but one that was oh so welcome.

Sitting on the sofa as the fire burned and the fairy lights twinkled, snowflakes swirled outside under the light of the stars.

Cradled in her father's arms was the greatest gift Sam could have ever received, the greatest she could ever have given.

Eleanor Grace Carter-O'Neill, a miracle little girl with golden curls and chocolate coloured eyes the same shade as her doting daddy.

Sam sighed, a sound of contentment, and cuddled into her husband's side. 

"Love you, Sam," Jack murmured, lifting his eyes from the little girl in his arms long enough to lean in and kiss his wife softly.

"I love you, too, Jack," she smiled, and god, it was true. She loved him more than she'd thought it possible to. "Happy Christmas."

"The happiest," he whispered, awed gaze falling back down to their daughter.

Sam smiled, believing it to be true.

It was the happiest of Christmases.


End file.
